Tata R11: Aronian Blunders, Gelfand & Naiditsch Win Again

Levon Aronian had already won the Masters Group on Saturday and finished his tournament with a good game, but a bad blunder. The Armenian grandmaster lost his only game to Dutch GM Loek van Wely, but still gained 13.7 rating points in Wijk aan Zee. Boris Gelfand and Arkadij Naiditsch both won again and can go home with at least a few wins.

“I tend to expect to play well in tournaments,” said Aronian at the traditional press conference given by the winner. He called Wijk aan Zee his favorite tournament, and clearly was happy with his fourth victory. (Later, at the closing ceremony he would state that he plays his best chess in Wijk!) Here's that press conference:

Even though he had already won the tournament, Aronian was clearly playing for a win in the last round, but ended up losing. He called the fight with Loek van Wely the most interesting game he played in the tournament. “It wasn't my intention to get in timetrouble but I did, and then I blundered a mate in one,” said the Armenian.

Arkadij Naiditsch ended last, but he did finish with two wins. On Sunday he beat Richard Rapport in a nice attacking game, and so the two both scored 3.5/11. “Rapport seems to be in an even worse shape than me here. The game reminded me of my game with Harikrishna, but with opposite colors. I am happy that I won a few games, so that you don't have to go home with the feeling: maybe it's time to switch jobs,” said Naiditsch.

Boris Gelfand also won two games in a row at the end of the tournament. His win over Pentala Harikrishna was a fine one; White kept the initiative from the start and even with equal pawns he was better. It's always a bit special when a pawn ending comes on the board at this level; in this case Gelfand had clearly seen that it was winning in all lines.

Anish Giri finished shared second with Sergey Karjakin, and this was the best performance by a Dutch player since Jan Timman's victory in 1985. In the last round Giri once again showed how solid he had been in Wijk aan Zee this year - he finished undefeated, in fact.

“Ne5 was new (to me at least). The way I played it was kind of safe; I gave a pawn but I had compensation. Later I had to give another pawn but I felt I should have enough for equality. I missed the whole idea of the queen to e8 so I was quite fortunate that it was a draw,” said Giri, who also revealed new ambitions for future events: “I think I should have played a little more risky and perhaps lose a game or two but maybe win three, four more.”

“I might have missed one or two chances but I think I played wel. To Anish's credit, I think he defended precisely. I had an extra pawn but I think it was always going to be a draw,” said Nakamura.

Sergey Karjakin could have finished in sole second place, but the Russian GM also drew, with Leinier Dominguez. In fact it was Giri who could have finished sole second because Karjakin blundered a pawn in the opening and was just lost around the time control. However, Dominguez got very tired, as he stated himself, couldn't calculate accurately anymore and eventually failed to convert the ending.

Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So also finished with a draw. The two followed a very theoretical line of the Grünfeld that leads straight to an ending, and soon after deviating from a correspondence game, the players started repeating.

Tata Steel 2014 | Masters | Final Standings

#

Name

Rtg

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

0

1

2

Pts

SB

1

Aronian

2812

½

1

1

1

1

½

0

1

½

½

1

8.0/11

2

Giri

2734

½

½

½

½

½

1

½

½

½

½

1

6.5/11

34.25

3

Karjakin

2759

0

½

0

½

½

½

1

½

1

1

1

6.5/11

31.00

4

Caruana

2782

0

½

1

0

½

½

1

½

1

1

0

6.0/11

31.00

5

Dominguez

2754

0

½

½

1

1

0

½

½

½

1

½

6.0/11

31.00

6

So

2719

0

½

½

½

0

½

1

½

1

1

½

6.0/11

29.50

7

Harikrishna

2706

½

0

½

½

1

½

½

1

0

0

1

5.5/11

8

Van Wely

2672

1

½

0

0

½

0

½

1

0

½

1

5.0/11

27.25

9

Nakamura

2789

0

½

½

½

½

½

0

0

½

1

1

5.0/11

24.75

10

Gelfand

2777

½

½

0

0

½

0

1

1

½

0

½

4.5/11

11

Rapport

2691

½

½

0

0

0

0

1

½

0

1

0

3.5/11

19.75

12

Naiditsch

2718

0

0

0

1

½

½

0

0

0

½

1

3.5/11

17.75

Ivan Saric, the winner of the Challengers Group, almost finished his tournament with a loss as well. Around the time control things seemed to go really well for Sabino Brunello, but eventually Saric managed to hold it. 10.0/13 and a 2783 perfomance is of course a fantastic result for the young Croatian grandmaster.

Jan Timman can look back at an excellent tournament. It would have been quite a story if he would have qualified for the 2015 Masters Group, and he got close! Eventually the Dutch legend, who drew with Radek Wojtaszek in the last round, tied for second place with Baadur Jobava, who drew with Kayden Troff. In the all-Dutch game between Dimitri Reinderman and Merijn van Delft, Black allowed himself to be checkmated.

This win will set off a better start for candidate tournament for Levon.On the other hand it shaked Anish up badly being 2nd.Levon should have taken hot coffee before posing on press conference as he looks bit exhausted

I feel really bad For Aronian, i was watching the game when it finished, he looked shocked, and horrified, and very very frustrated with himself, i am glad he won the tournament in spite of that very very disapointing loss, I have never seen Aronian in time trouble, and as the commentaters said, Loek was used to time trouble, but Aronian was not. Ah well, go Get Carlsen in Zurich! and then take the Candidates, if he can do theses i will feel happy for him, well maybe not Zurich, but i hope the Candidates.

When Aronian was being interviewed the day before his game against Van Wely, he made some remark about the difference between a strong player and a very strong player being that the very strong player knows when the engine is assessing a position incorrectly. The game against Van Wely was the engine fraternity's sweet revenge. No self-respecting engine would have blundered the way Aronian did. It was actually a mate in a few and not just in one but the engines are not counting. Aronian, of course, is a great player.

Was hoping Aronian won today and achieve a new rating and perhaps his best tournament victory...never expect to lose with white against a player who is 100 elo rating lower...so it does tell us that anything can happen in chess...Carlsen would have a big advantage over the four that just finish the tournament due to time of rest...Feel bad that Gelfand has become like the spotlight and it seem that players who play him has more enthusiam and will power to win against him...Keep charging and having fun Gelfand!..:)

Heaven forbid, GM Naiditsch! Don't switch jobs! Your wonderful games are all some of us 'couch' patzers have to live for! Congrats on your win. And the same to Aronian. Levon seems like a nice enough guy, and I wish him well. But maybe he could have been a little more complimentary to Van Wely, who fought hard and got a well deserved win.

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